[3] Douglas made his first foray into politics in 1975 when he unsuccessfully sought the Labour Party candidacy for Onehunga following the retirement of Hugh Watt.
[5] In early 1977 he contemplated standing as a candidate for the Labour Party nomination in the Mangere by-election, however he ultimately decided to withdraw from the candidacy race.
[6] He then put his name forward for the newly created seat in south Auckland, Hunua, defeating former cabinet minister Colin Moyle to win nomination.
Following his ejection from Parliament, Douglas then unsuccessfully stood for the Labour nomination at the 1980 Onehunga by-election.
[10][11] Later in 1980 he put his name forward to replace long serving MP Warren Freer in the safe Labour seat of Mount Albert, but missed out on the nomination to Helen Clark.